Dec.2011 Club Spinning – Foehn Cowl & Mitts : spin the yarn

The project base for this club is a set of matching gloves and a cowl, knit in a stranded fair isle pattern making them both squishy and extra-warm to block those winter winds.

Both fibres were spun to create a semi-worsted sport-weight yarn.

SPINNING DETAILS

FOEHN BLENDED TOPThis 100% Wool blended top is made up of a 66% blend of four different Merino colours, with additions of 17% oatmeal Bluefaced Leicester and 17% black Shetland. It’s designed to create a heathered yarn, with an oil-on-water effect once spun.

SPINNING: Fold the roving in half lengthwise and use the fold line to split it into two equal lengths across the width. Spin each using a semi-worsted technique (backwards draw), from end to end (do not split into thinner lengths). If desired, it could be attenuated slightly before spinning for pre-drafting. It was spun Z-twist (clockwise) using a medium-fast whorl (10.5:1) into two singles for plying.

If desired the roving could also be spun into one long single and plied from a centre-pull ball.

PLYING: Ply the two singles in S direction (counter-clockwise) using a slightly smaller whorl size or slightly tighter twist than used for spinning – the sample yarn was plied using a 12.5:1 whorl.

FINISHING: The yarn was finished in a warm-hot bath employing a light felting method (swish the wet yarn back and forth in the hot water about 10 times). It was left to rest for a short while in the warm water (about 10 mins) and then rinsed in a cool bath. It was then thumped against a hard surface a few times to set the twist and hung unweighted to dry.

OATMEAL BLUEFACED LEICESTER TOP
Use the same method as for the blended top to spin.